As you might expect, one of the biggest obstacles for photovoltaics is the nights of our planet. The panels maintain their ability to absorb light at all times, however, during long hours, they must remain inoperative. Now, in Scotland, the development of a hexagonal solar panel that could work even at night has just been announced.
A solar panel that still works at night? Yes, but it’s not the one you know from Tesla
While sunlight is an abundant and renewable resource and is even the oldest known source of energy, it is also true that obtaining electricity from the sun has proven to be a more complicated task than one might expect. Among other factors such as climate, the greatest difficulty in achieving a constant flow of energy to the solar batteries is the rotation of the earth.
Rotation mechanisms exist to move the panels according to the position of the sun, and a glass panel is also being developed that is capable of redirecting light energy without the need to tilt the entire device. Although these solutions manage to significantly increase the performance of daylight, without being able to compensate for the night hours.
That is why academics at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, have been developing an unusual solution: gigantic hexagonal mirrors that will be placed in orbit to reflect sunlight during the night onto solar farms. This mechanism would make it possible to illuminate, with great precision, an area of about 10km with direct solar radiation for 20 minutes.
The hexagonal solar panel would rotate at equal intervals illuminating each solar farm to provide an extra 35Mw/h for each pass it makes. The mirrors would retract after each pass until the device is ready to illuminate the next farm, so that there is no risk of causing any imbalance in the Earth’s natural cycles.
How the hexagonal solar panel works: new project to revolutionize the energy generation
The team of Scottish academics have named their hexagonal solar panel Solarspace. Key to the invention’s ability to power the photovoltaic panels at night are the gyroscopes installed at the heart of the mechanism. This mechanism is surrounded by huge hexagonal-shaped reflectors.
Thanks to the gyroscopes and the joints of the underlying structure, it is possible to rotate the mirrors in virtually any direction. By means of the well-known geopositioning technology and a series of electrical mechanisms, the panels can be programmed to illuminate the solar farms within the coverage area one by one.
Redirecting sunlight during the night is a perfect strategy to increase the capacity of the solar panels, as it would not only make it possible to take advantage of all the hours, but also to send more light at times of peak demand. In this way, the farms could help balance grid loads instead of just being a backup power source.
The best thing about this solution is that it would not involve any type of pollution or risk to our planet, making it the most effective and sustainable option so far. It is also worth mentioning that it is a technology that can be complemented with other innovations in this field, making it incredibly promising.
This hexagonal solar panel promises to be the solution we needed to implement solar energy as a major source of electricity in our cities. Expectations become even more optimistic when we think of the potential it offers for other inventions such as this sunflower solar panel that could be installed in private homes.
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